The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel (29 page)

I want to go back and inspect the garden.
The air around me rushes by. Is that one of them? Who are these men
that protect me? After I leave here, my next goal is to find
out.

Sister Mary Elizabeth greets me warmly and
when I ask about Sister Josephina, I am told that she hasn’t
returned from visiting her family over the Christmas holidays.
Sister Mary Elizabeth also tells me that Sister Josephina has
decided that she wants to move closer to her former home and is
trying to get transferred to another convent. While I know this is
far from the truth, I don’t want to prolong this discussion. I am
still shaken by my discovery and want to flee from this place for
their protection as well as my own. I quickly tell them my reason
for visiting. They all gush over their happiness for me and I find
myself passed from one to the next, as they give me a good dose of
hugs. I explain that I’ll be moving and where and let them know
I’ll have my things out in a week or so. I pretend that I’m
excited, when all I can think of is the dead nun in the garden.

“Emmalia, we are so happy for you. We wish
you and Kade the best. And we hope you aren’t strangers around
here.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. Kade still has his
music lessons and I will volunteer if you need me. I start my new
job at Living Free next week. But you know if you need anything,
I’ll be here.”

We all hug again and then I pay a quick
visit to Father Anthony and tell him the same. He offers us his
heartfelt congratulations.

“I knew you two would work things out. I saw
how sweet he was on you and he’s a great man, Emmalia.”

“Thank you Father. We are both lucky to have
found each other.”

I make some lame excuse to leave because I
am still shaken over the discovery of Sister Josephina. Who killed
her? And why would they do such a thing to her? What did the
shadows do to make her disappear and to make all the nuns believe
she was still with her family? I want to speak to them. I need to
know. And where did they take me while they made all this
happen?

When I tell Kade, he decides I shouldn’t go
anywhere alone anymore.

“That’s absurd. I can’t have an escort
everywhere I go. And besides, I have the shadows. Today is one more
reason to trust in them. They kept me safe throughout all
this.”

“I guess so, and you’re stubborn as hell so
I know there’s no persuading you.”

The crease between his eyes, the frown he
wears, tells me how upset he is. I can’t discredit this. Smoothing
the hair back from his forehead, I say, “Don’t worry. I’ll be
careful. I promise. And thank you for being so concerned. I guess
no one has cared about me for a while now, so I need to get used to
this.”

I put my arms around his neck and kiss his
perfect mouth.

“Juliette, I have so much worry in this body
of mine for you, it will never go away just with you saying those
words. I love you and care for you. When you’re out there, alone,
bad people are hunting you down, and I’m helpless, I do nothing
but
worry. It’s not safe for you. Maybe we should leave
Denver. Run away from here.”

“And go where? Where would I be safe?
They’ll follow me everywhere.”

He sighs. “I don’t know. I want you near me
so I don’t have to worry so much when you’re not here.”

“But, Kade. I can’t be with you every waking
minute of the day.”

“You wouldn’t. I’d see you when I’m at
Living Free, which is a few hours a day, but then I leave to do
other things. And you can least stay here until things die down. Or
whatever.”

It makes sense to some degree, but that
means we’ll be together much more than I had planned. “What ever
happened to take it slow and let it flow?”

“It went out the window with your life being
in danger.”

“Point well made. I can’t discredit your
logic.”

“Then why won’t you do it?” He asks.
Frustration or maybe it’s desperation that edges his voice.

“Because you are the best thing that ever
happened to me and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

He throws his hands up in the air. “You
don’t get this at all. There won’t
be
anything to fuck up if
you get yourself killed. Jesus, what else do I have to say to
convince you? How many more people will have to die?” he yells.

“Okay! I’ll move in here then!” My voice
matches his in decibels. We’re both panting like animals, but then
he rushes me and shoves me hard against the nearest wall, pinning
me.

“Fuck it all. If anything ever happens to
you, I don’t know what I’ll do.” His lips crash onto mine,
painfully. My teeth gouge into them, and I can taste my own blood,
but he is relentless and I need him. I need to feel this fervor, to
know his emotions are every bit as wrapped up in me as mine are in
him. We tear at each other’s clothing like two primitive beings,
determined to be naked and rid of our garments. When we are, we
keep going. He lifts me up, hands on my ass, and I’m impaled,
quickly, deeply, and he flexes his hips against mine, rocking into
me harder and deeper with every thrust.

“I want every last bit of you on my cock,
Juliette. Give me all of you.”

My hands grip his shoulders as my heels dig
into his ass. I urge and spur him on through words and gestures.
This joining is rough, violent, but I wouldn’t have it any other
way. I want him hard, as hard as he can give, and I tell him
so.

He is relentless as he pounds into me,
bruising my back as it rams against the wall, but I still beg for
more.

“I’m close. I’m so close, Kade.” My nails
gouge the firm muscles of his shoulders, hanging on for dear life
now. But then, in a slow building, beginning in the arches of my
feet, radiating up to my core, and then out to the rest of my body,
it happens. I’m bursting into the ecstasy of an orgasm, calling his
name, muscles contracting, and shuddering with the impact of it
all.

Right after, he follows, but he lets me go
and pulls out quickly, because he never put a condom on. I fall to
my knees, my legs are so weak. He does the same. I suppose his are
weak, too, from holding us both up. I don’t know, but I watch the
sexy shower of his cum as it shoots out of him. My hand reaches for
him, and I stroke him, making sure there’s nothing left. He runs
his tongue across his lower lip, and that alone makes me want him
again.

I crawl up on his thighs, straddle them and
take his lip into my mouth and nibble on it. Then I kiss him.
Slowly. Until I need air.

“Kade. Every time. I want more with you.
You’ve opened a door and I’m astonished at what’s on the other
side.”

Ice blue eyes, melted by our lovemaking,
gaze back at me. “Do you know, when I was at my worst, I would
dream of a time when life might be great? But I never imagined
this. My dreams never came close to this. You’re my miracle,
Juliette. Let me be the man who can protect you. The man you need
right now.”

I run my hand through his hair and say,
“Don’t you know? You are that man.”

The Seven

“How? Where? We need to find them. If they’ve
found the convent, it’s only a matter of time. That necklace has to
be kept safe. Rafe, any information?” Sabin asks.

“None. We don’t know how or where they’re
slipping through.”

“Anyone else?”

Edge volunteers an idea. “This may
or may not hold any ground. But it seems like every time she’s
around that dog of hers, they stay away. Maybe they have an
aversion to canines.”

Silence blankets the room while everyone waits for
the Sabin explosion. But it never occurs.

“You may have something there, Edge. In any
case, we have to get this figured out. Fast. Until then, she has
five. Five of us at all times.”

“Sabin, there aren’t enough of us.”

“Then what do you propose, Rafe? Letting her
go?”

“No, I …”

“There is no other option. And after that
incident at the convent with the dead nun, do you think she’s not
going to have questions? This is not some insipid girl. She’s a
brilliant woman who has been able to figure out a whole lot of shit
that your men can’t. So, we stay on her, five men, and do our
fucking jobs. If anything happens to her or that necklace, we are
dust. Clear?”

“Clear,” Rafe responds.

“Oh, and one of you stays on the boyfriend.
If they did that to the nun, I wouldn’t put anything past them. The
boyfriend needs protection, too.”

Rafe looks at Sabin. He knows he’s taking a
huge risk here. “Can we go four and three?”

Sabin’s head swivels. “That means no time
off. Ever.”

“I know. If it’s that urgent, then we need
all manpower, all the time.”

“No rotations?”

“None.”

Sabin blows out a breath. “I’m good with it
if you are.”

“Done. Four and three. When they’re
together, we can take a break. Five on. We rest at night.”

Sabin nods. Then he cocks his head.

“What?” Rafe asks.

“Should we tell her?”

“About Paradox?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, Sabin. I don’t know. That’s a lot for
her to carry on her shoulders.”

“She’s been carrying a lot for almost three
years now.”

Rafe is silent, but only for a moment as he
digests everything. “True, but Paradox—this is different.”

Sabin shrugs. He’s a tough man, hard to get
to know. Surrounds himself with in impenetrable shield that he
never lets down, but for some reason, he’s taken a liking to this
girl. Rafe is surprised. Usually Sabin shows very little interest
in his subjects. Not this girl. Since he’s come in the field, he’s
shown her a deference like no other and Rafe is baffled. The night
he approached her and made them known to her, Rafe couldn’t believe
it. They never ever do that, under any circumstances. But Sabin
insisted. Sabin said anyone with balls enough to shout out to them
the way she did needed to see them. So that’s what he did.

“What is it about this one, Sabin? You are
different with her.”

“Not your business, Rafe.”

Now it was Rafe’s turn to shrug. “Whatever.
Just be careful with her. You don’t want to compromise us or what
we do. That could have catastrophic consequences.”

Sabin’s eyes land on Rafe’s. His gaze nearly
burns Rafe. “You don’t ever have to worry about me doing harm to
this group, Rafe. You got that?”

“I hear you, sir.”

“Glad we understand each other.”

The message was sent and received. Stay out
of my fucking business.

Juliette

January third, my first day on the job. I can
barely contain my excitement. It begins with Kade giving me a tour
of Living Free and then introducing me to Kevin, the IT guy. I’ll
be spending my first day with him.

Kevin is a computer tech, but is not a
computer scientist. Unfortunately, I find a lot of things that
could be improved upon. I begin making a list. There are things
that can be integrated into their program to make things easier
from the rehab center each individual comes from, so their transfer
is more streamlined. There are updates to their website that can be
implemented which would make it much more attractive to a viewer.
There are items from the business side that would make it easier
for accounting purposes. My list is endless.

That night, when I get home, I present my
list to Kade. With each problem, I have my solution listed and what
it would take for me to implement it. The processes are quite
simple and I could have them up and running in no time.

Kade peruses the list and then says, “Is
this a joke?”

“Not at all.”

“Have I hired the shittiest IT guy in the
world?”

“No. You hired someone who is adequate at
what he does. I am an expert, Kade. That’s the difference.”

“You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?”

That question makes me laugh even though I
find it a bit odd. “Maybe a little.”

“Figures. Every one of the Hart brothers has
ended up with a brainiac.”

I have no idea what that means and my
expression must reflect it.

“My brother Kolson’s wife is this amazing
psychiatrist who probably saved my life. She’s super smart. And
then there’s Kestrel’s wife, Carter, who’s a research scientist.
She’s a genetic engineer researching a cure for cancer doing gene
modulating, whatever the hell that is. She’s a genius. I mean
really. And now you. That’s why it figures.”

“Well I don’t think …”

“Oh I clearly do. You figured all this shit
out in one day.”

“Nope. I had it figured out by noon. I just
wanted to make sure all the processes would integrate well with my
solutions.”

“I see, says the dummy.”

“Shut up. You’re the musical genius, says
she who can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

He tackles me and then tickles me until I’m
crying.

“This is awesome. Now I have to figure out
how I’ll handle Kevin.”

“I’m sorry.” And I really am because he’s a
very nice person. He did nothing wrong other than do the job he is
qualified to do.

“I’ll figure something out. So when can you
get this done? I want it nowww!” he says in a whining voice.

I laugh.

“I’ll start tomorrow.”

He kisses me and his phone rings. I watch
his face and his smile stretches from ear to ear. When he ends the
call, he announces that Carter had a baby boy and they named him
Daniel. Evidently Kestrel is on Cloud Nine and is calling the baby
a beast because he weighed in at over nine pounds.

“That’s a big baby, Kade.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know much about
that stuff.”

“Well, it is. Glad mom and baby are doing
great.”

Kade just smiles, then says, “I can only
imagine Kestrel. He’s going to be … well at Christmas he was so
weird.” Then he explains. We both have a good chuckle over it.